Photos: Leon Kunstenaar
July 18, 2026, San Rafael, CA – As Bay Area cities move to ban the retail sale of animals, dozens of animal rights activists with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) protested today at one of the Bay’s biggest pet retailers: Petco. Activists first protested silently next to the animals on display inside Petco in San Rafael, and then loudly outside the store, urging Petco to end the retail sale of animals at all locations.
About twenty activists assembled a few stores away from the Petco store and then walked together to the Petco location. Once inside they lined up and silently held their messages. At one point a store employee expressed concern that they were blocking a walkway. They weren’t. After walking through several of the large store’s aisles, they exited…